Each week, BCBusiness takes you inside one of the most outrageously upmarket real estate offerings in the province

The skinny: Four-bedroom, five-bathroom, 4,186-square-foot house on a 9,800-square-foot lot in Richmond

The bling: It’s important, when spending several million dollars on a house that appears so mundane, so let’s face it: pedestrian from the sidewalk to be sure that it transforms on entering into something of which dreams are made. Now, we at BFD understand that for many, swaths of furry fabric thrown nonchalantly here there and everywhere is indeed a sign of luxury (if not always of good taste). But we must also admit that these gratuitously fluffy bales and oh-so-carefully (yet apparently casually) strewn slugs of cloth give us—and let’s be frank—the raging heebie-jeebies. We have been known to walk into hotels, motels, Airbnbs—and yes, even the homes of former friends—and lift, with thumb and forefinger only, all wraps, throws, cushions and rugs with even the slightest evidence of luxury pile and drop them into a hidden corner, never to be seen or, more importantly, touched, ever again. Think of the dust mites, people (and that’s the least of the horrors that are likely lurking in those deep fronds of fake fur). Ugh, we’re shivering in fear at the mere idea. Still, we know it’s a style thing for some, and so, if your idea of true luxury is sheepskin and shag, velour, chenille and plush, the soft-furnishing possibilities of Penny Lane could well be for you, and leave you with the immortal words of John Lennon: “Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes. There beneath the blue suburban skies.”

The hidden extras: Apparently, the marble flooring came from one big piece of stone (yes, our brows are deeply furrowed on that one, too), fancy appliances and a water fountain in the backyard